Wet 'n' Wild Argentina

This week we’ve been from the far north of the country to the far south; from 30 degree heat to below freezing; from a rainforest packed with wildlife to a plateau of ice devoid of living creatures; from being pummeled by water from heights of 80 metres above to walking on water extending to depths of 120 metres below. To be a bit more specific, we’ve been from the waterfalls of Iguazu to the glaciers of Patagonia. Argentina certainly is a country with variety of landscapes.

Iguazu Falls are pretty mighty – they are 4 times wider than Niagara (it’s been said that Iguazu makes Niagara look like a trickling toilet, but we don’t think that’s quite fair…), and the tumbling water is set amongst orchids, palms, parrots, butterflies and a high cloud of mist which creates blazing rainbows. Just to make sure we got the picture, we decided to take a speed boat ride through the rivers below, which included a shocking soak when the boat went into the edge of the falls themselves!



After taking a flight to the far south of the country, we found ourselves in Patagonia, and the contrast couldn’t have been greater. We spent our time at the Perito Moreno Glacier, which rises above the water by about 60 metres and extends to about 120 metres underneath. It is also one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, and we witnessed some pretty sizeable chunks of ice breaking off the side of the glacier and crashing into the water below.

Our appreciation of the glacier took place from beside it (there are wooden walkways set up around the edge)...

on top of it (when we participated in a challenging ice-trek on the surface)..... and within it (when we descended into some of the ice caves)!
Thankfully, the glacier decided not to re-live the spectacular rupture of March 2006 (when the pressure of the water broke through the ice and reopened the entire thing), and so we were spared the experience of becoming ice sculptures.